NWA LETTERS

Posted: February 6, 2018 at 1 a.m.

President’s fabrications aren’t a matter of debate

The Washington Post has identified more than 2,000 lies President Donald Trump told during his first year in office. PolitiFact labeled 173 of Trump’s statements during the commander-in-chief forum as mostly false.

Trump refuses to do the customary releasing of his tax returns. He’s obviously hiding something.

Trump is in broad daylight violating the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. By the power of his office he is enriching himself and his family. He may be spending as much time running his businesses and growing their revenue as he spends in his job as president.

It is well established that Trump has cheated on all three of his wives. There are numerous tapes of his conversations with Howard Stern, Billy Bush, and others in which he brags about his many sexual exploits and assaults. At least 19 women have accused him of sexual aggression.

Trump has spent enormous energy trying to shut down the investigations into Russia’s meddling in our election and into his and his associates’ activities. He’s obviously trying to hide things.

Everyone should read Tony Schwartz’s essay “I Wrote the Art of the Deal with Donald Trump.” Schwartz has been closely associated with Trump for decades and was the primary author of Trump’s book. In just six concise pages Schwartz describes Trump’s flawed character and pervasive dishonesty as only a close associate could.

Suzann Pettersen, a golfing partner of Trump for a decade and a 15-time LPGA Tour winner, says the president “cheats like hell” on the golf course. Trump’s caddie routinely re-positions his balls. He claims a 3 handicap even though Pettersen has never seen him come close to breaking 80. Yet every time Trump sees Pettersen, he claims to have just shot a 69 or set a new course record or won a club championship some place.

All of this means our president is untruthful and deceitful on a scale we have never seen. But just as disturbing is the reflection this casts on the American people, about 35 percent of whom find this behavior in a president acceptable and even commendable. We’re not talking about someones’s opinion or prejudice, but about facts that are plainly observable.